


Another Beginning?

by skargasm



Series: Parental Units [5]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-26
Updated: 2013-09-26
Packaged: 2017-12-27 17:41:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/981774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skargasm/pseuds/skargasm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heath takes his Dad’s advice but all doesn’t go according to plan...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Beginning?

”Sounds good, yeah, I’m in!” Heath needed a wall to bang his head into, or maybe he should just walk into traffic and end it that way.

“Ummm, Jordan, I—listen, you and Angela are—”

“Should we bring movies since you’re providing venue? Hey, Angela, what was that movie with whatshisface?!” Mouth full of gum, Jordan dragged Angela forward until the four of them were blocking the sandwiches section.

“I need a little more info than that—male, female?” Angela was laid-back and completely unaffected by Jordan’s less than logical conversational swings—she was used to them. Looking down at the food choices available in front of him, Heath was unfortunately reminded of some of Dad’s tales of Sunnydale cafeteria.

“With the president and the Korean terrorist. The one with the absolutely _class_ one-liners!” Jordan was still talking loudly and Heath huffed with frustration—it wasn’t Jordan’s voice he wanted to hear.

“What night are we talking about?” Tino’s voice was quiet but that was okay as it meant that Heath could stand too close to him and inhale the scent of his shampoo under the pretense of listening. They’d had gym class just before lunch and it had been a study in goods and bads. Good, running around getting physical and burning off some energy. Since he wasn’t out getting laid all the time now, he was literally jumping in his skin with excess energy. Bad because his senses were heightened at the moment and the scent of all of that ‘prey’ scattering around him teased him unmercifully. Good because he and Tino made an unbeatable team in whatever sport they did; bad because of the casual chest bumps, slaps to the back and ass and other assorted methods of celebrating success. Each of them seemed to need physical contact and it was getting more and more difficult not to just throw Tino down and—

It was a blessing in disguise that nearly everyone expected the two of them to stand close conferring, commiserating and celebrating because lately letting Tino get more than a few feet away from him when his blood was up like that was practically impossible. God help them all if coach ever decided to put them on different teams....

And that was before the heaven and hell of the showers.....

“You tell me what night works best for you and we’ll do it then.”

“But what about Jordan and Angela?” Tino’s eyes were a deep, dark blue, and sometimes they were so easy to read. Like now.

“J might be completely void of anything resembling tact, diplomacy and basic manners but did **you** notice anything about the invitation?”

“Oh.” He knew then that Tino understood, at least a little bit anyway. Heath had asked him if he wanted to come over for a movie night as they joined the line for lunch. Unfortunately Jordan heard and assumed it was an open invitation, dragging Angela into the misunderstanding before Heath could correct his mistake. He watched Tino assimilate the information, turning it all over in his head until BAM, there was that blush that captivated Heath anew every time.

He automatically snagged the last tuna and mayonnaise on wholewheat sandwiches and tossed them onto Tino’s tray just as Tino placed a package of chicken and bacon sandwiches onto his. Ever since Dad had mentioned scent marking, Heath had been more and more conscious of things like that: how he and Tino took care of each other on the court; how they knew what each other ate and drank and uniformly placed the ‘tastiest’ versions of that on each others’ plates. They were so much in sync that it shocked him that more people didn’t comment on it in a homophobic manner—the way they walked close together, how they always gravitated towards each other, how if Tino was in a room he always seemed to know exactly where he was. Their gym teacher called it damn near supernatural—if only he knew.

“S’that okay?” He refused to consider how much the answer meant to him—he wasn’t creating a private bubble of space with his shoulders or holding his breath waiting on an answer. He really wasn’t.

“Olympus Has Fallen.”

“Yeah, that was it— _knew_ you would know! You’re like my very own walking, talking IMDB baby girl!”

“Be still my beating heart! You pay the worst compliments ever Jordan Constantine!” Angela and Jordan’s conversation was background noise while he listened to Tino’s breathing and waited on his answer.

“Thought you liked girls.” That wasn’t a flat out rejection and he took encouragement from that.

“Equal Opportunities, although more skewed than I realised.” Was that his voice, all deep and gruff sounding? And no cracking in the middle of it—miracle of miracles.

“Heath, look—”

“No strings unless you want them!” Go him, being all mature and articulate—Dad would be proud. “No pressure man.” He reached over for a carton of milk, trying to be casual about the whole thing, like Tino’s answer wasn’t something he needed almost more than he needed air to breathe. He froze as he felt Tino’s hand at his waist, long fingers curling over the waistband of his jeans in a way that made tiny hairs stand up all down his spine.

“I don’t wanna be like those girls you pick up. I’m not interested in being disposable.”

“Is that why you haven’t—“

“Are you two lovebirds gonna to hog all the cow-juice cos some of us would _really_ like to make our food choices before next period! Move it along please.” If Jordan wasn’t one of his best friends, Heath was pretty sure he would have physically ripped his head from his shoulders and bowled it towards the cash register. As it was, he felt everything within him gear up for battle, a move forestalled by the grip of Tino’s hand on his jeans, obviously trying to hold him back. Jordan was looking a little green around the edges and Angela was tugging him out of the way and Heath realised he was all but threatening one of his best friends. What the hell was going on with him?

“He didn’t mean nothing—don’t Heath okay?” He nodded, allowing Tino to tug him along the line towards the cash register. He felt strange—not bad strange, just strange. Almost docile. He wasn’t a savage—normally he could keep hold of his temper without too many problems—after all, he’d survived on his own for years and that wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t managed to blend in with the humans around him. But lately, _not_ getting angry and not lashing out was getting harder, and this was the first time in a while that he hadn’t felt that swirling maelstrom of rage inside trying to escape. Could it really be as simple as feeling Tino’s grip on him, like Tino was making a claim? That hand was still tucked within the waistband of his jeans, long fingers stroking over the thin cotton of his T-shirt where it was haphazardly tucked in. He resented the material, wishing it was Tino’s skin directly against his—how would that feel? Instant, automatic response and he wanted to growl in frustration. Instead, he dumped his tray down and yanked out the T-shirt so that it flopped over his groin and provided some protection. “Oh! Sorry, I—“

“NO! I mean, it’s cool—don’t let go.” Tino’s eyes really were easy to read—vulnerable, scared, wanting—all there for him to see. Heath wasn’t thinking about Jordan or anyone else in the cafeteria and just what they might be thinking; he wasn’t considering just how he was going to take back an invitation he hadn’t actually made; in fact, the only thing he was thinking was whether he could convince Tino to skip the rest of school so that they could talk uninterrupted. Talk and maybe something more... “You’re far from disposable—the last few months have been freakin’ torturous man.” Tino licked his lips and Heath thought there was just no way he was going to be able to play nice and do lunch feeling the way he did at the moment—he would be lucky if he could sit down without breaking something.

“Okay, okay. Cool. Let’s go eat yeah? We’ve got a movie night to plan. I’ve been wanting to meet your Dads properly ever since you told me about them.” It was easier to breathe suddenly: he could see his way past his immediate feelings—maybe Dad had been right after all? And whether Angela and Jordan came too, he suddenly found himself looking forward to movie night a whole lot more—having Tino close by in a darkened room was something he would go through a LOT for!  


* * *

**Author's Note:**

> [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/) \- Internet Movie DataBase


End file.
